
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Southeast Asia’s journey through two and a half years of Covid-19 comprises shared and unique experiences. Research on the pandemic’s impacts and policy challenges can shed important light on how the region managed the multiple crises. In navigating concurrent health and economic crises, and in some cases political instability, governments and societies have had to go to unprecedented lengths in restricting mobility, delivering aid, coordinating responses, and communicating information.
At this conference, researchers from across Southeast Asia will present their findings and analyses of the manifold aspects of Covid-19. Country studies of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are grouped according to four themes: pandemic management, economic stimulus, policy coordination, and transition economy experience. Each study provides a general overview and focuses on specific aspects to enhance comparison across a select set of countries. We also investigate vaccine procurement and rollout across the region, and ASEAN’s Covid-19 initiatives. Panel presentations and discussions will be centred on the region’s performance in meeting the challenges of Covid-19, and lessons to be learned for future crises.
This conference is supported by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
Download the programme here.
Read the event highlight here.
Registration
This hybrid event is open to the public and will be held at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Seminar Rooms 1 & 2.
Attending the Event In-person at ISEAS
To join the event in-person at ISEAS, please register via the ISEAS mobile app, available on iOS and Android via the Apple or Play store. Search “ISEAS” to find or scan this QR code.


Attending the Event Virtually via Webinar
To join the event virtually at the specified date and time using your internet devices, please register via the following links to receive your unique login link for the webinar via the zoom platform.
Day 1 (Thursday, 28 July 2022) – Register here
Day 2 (Friday, 29 July 2022) – Register here
If you have questions for the speakers, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.
Day 1: Thursday, 28 July 2022
Welcome Remarks — 10.00 am–10.15 am
Mr Choi Shing Kwok, Director and CEO, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Mr Andreas Klein, Director of Political Dialogue Asia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
Panel 1: Covid-19 in the Transition Economies: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar — 10.15 am–12.05 pm
Presenters:
- Teng Delux & Pen Socheata
Cambodia Development Research Institute
Cambodia’s Covid-19 Impacts and Economic Recovery Pathways: Aspects and Perspectives
Download paper here
- Phouphet Kyiphilavong & Khaysy Srithilat
National University of Laos
Laos’ Covid-19 Recovery Pathways
Download paper here - Sandii Lwin, Kyaw San Wai & Nilar Win
Myanmar Health and Development Consortium
Capabilities, Coup-vid and Cataclysm: Myanmar’s Responses to Covid 19
Download paper here
Discussant: Jayant Menon, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Moderator: Moe Thuzar, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Panel 2: Policy Coordination in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand: Horizontal and Vertical Dimensions — 1.15 pm–3.05 pm
Presenters:
- Yanuar Nugroho & Sofie Syarif
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
To Be or Not to Be? Dilemmas of Covid-19 Policy Implementation and Coordination in Indonesia
Download paper here
- Tricia Yeoh
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)
Conflict and Cooperation: Covid-19 Policy Coordination in Malaysia
Download paper here
- Punchada Sirivunnabood
Mahidol University
The Drama of Vaccine Politics: Covid-19 Inoculation Distribution in Thailand
Download paper here
Discussant: Siwage Dharma Negara, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Moderator: Francis Hutchinson, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Panel 3: Vaccination and Reopening: Country-level and ASEAN Experiences — 3.25 pm–4.55 pm
Presenters:
- Tham Siew Yean & Andrew Kam
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute; IKMAS-UKM Malaysia
Determinants of Covid-19 Vaccine Rollouts in Southeast Asia
Download paper here - Sara Abdullah
ASEAN Secretariat
ASEAN’s Response to COVID-19: Collaboration Towards Reopening
Download paper here (Updated 26 July 2022)
Discussant: Sanchita Basu Das, Asian Development Bank
Moderator: Melinda Martinus, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Closing Remarks — 4.55 pm–5.00 pm
Day 2: Friday, 29 July 2022
Panel 4: Economic Relief and Stimulus: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand — 9.00 am–10.50 am
Presenters:
- Melati Nungsari
Asian School of Business
Malaysian Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Packages: Too Little, Too Late?
Download paper here - Terence Ho
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy
Singapore: Support for Households and Businesses During the Pandemic
Download paper here (Updated 26 July 2022) - Archanun Kohpaiboon & Juthathip Jongwanich
Thammasat University
Economic Relief and Stimulus: Evidence from Thailand
Download paper here
Discussant: Lee Hwok Aun, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Moderator: Cassey Lee, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Panel 5: Managing and Mismanaging the Pandemic: Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam — 11.10 am–1.00 pm
Presenters:
- Arief Ramayandi & Siwage Dharma Negara
Asian Development Bank; ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Indonesia’s Covid-19 Mobility Restrictions: Rationales and Consequences
Download paper here - Sheena Valenzuela & Ronald U. Mendoza
Ateneo de Manila University
Economics of Lockdown: Balancing Health and the Economy in the Philippines
Download paper here - Nguyen Thu Huong & Nguyen Thang
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)
Vietnam’s Pandemic Passage: From “Zero Covid” to Flexible Adaptation
Download paper here
Discussant: Dean Dulay, Singapore Management University
Moderator: Maria Monica Wihardja, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Closing Remarks — 1.00 pm–1.05 pm